Unique Furnace

“By the way, Mother, I bumped into Auntie Yang just now. She said that the charcoal would be delivered this afternoon.”

Zhuang Zhuang took off his coat. He could feel the heat in the room.

Xiaoguo was delighted to hear that. She took his coat and hung it on a hanger she had made herself. “That’s wonderful!”

There was almost no more charcoal left at home. The charcoal at the shops was not sold to individuals. They could only rely on the village to distribute it to them. On top of that, the portion given out each time was barely enough. What they received for seven days was just a small basket of coal, and they had to pay a high price for it.

However, she knew that it was a blessing that they could afford to use charcoal. There were many families in Peach Blossom Village who could not afford it. They could only burn firewood to keep warm, but firewood was not as warm as charcoal.

Therefore, although Xiaoguo had complaints, she was content. At least she could afford to keep herself from starving and freezing. That was good enough for her.

Coincidentally, there was only a little charcoal left that was enough for today. There was finally a new batch of coal arriving.

“Did Auntie Yang say when?”

Zhuang Zhuang thought about it carefully and shook his head. “No, but she said that she will go with you.”

Xiaoguo understood when she heard that. Brother Yang was in charge of transporting the charcoal for the village. Mrs. Yang would definitely be the first to know when it arrived. Hence, she decided to stay at home and wait for her to come and collect the charcoal with her.

Xiaoguo felt the pinch as she prepared the money for the charcoal. She thought sadly to herself, “How many catties of pork can I eat with a small basket of charcoal…”

After lunch, Xiaoguo saw that Zhuang Zhuang had fallen asleep, so she added the rest of the charcoal to the stove. Since there would be new charcoal today, she could free up the basket.

After a while, she heard the door open. Xiaoguo guessed that it was most likely Mrs. Yang, so she quickly put on her equipment. Cotton hat, cotton gloves, and cotton scarf. These were Xiaoguo’s full set of gear.

When she opened the door, Mrs. Yang saw Xiaoguo with only her eyes exposed. She couldn’t help but stand further away and shake her head. Even if she were to see her again, she would still be shocked.

“Let’s go, Sister-in-law.”

As the scarf was wrapped tightly around the lower half of her face, Xiaoguo couldn’t speak clearly. Mrs. Yang could only hear a few buzzing sounds, but based on her previous experience, she could roughly guess what she was saying.

“Let’s go,”

Mrs. Yang carried the basket and slowly walked towards the village chief’s house with Xiaoguo. With Brother Yang’s insider information, Xiaoguo and Mrs. Yang were the first to arrive at the village chief’s house.

Xiaoguo’s eyes lit up as she looked at the baskets of charcoal neatly arranged in the village chief’s courtyard. This was the benefit of being the first to arrive. Every piece was intact—unlike those small, broken pieces that were usually left for picking if they were to come late.

The old village chief was holding a pair of tongs in his hands. His wife was in charge of registering the accounts.

When the old village chief saw Xiaoguo and Mrs. Yang, he quickly prepared to load the charcoal.

After putting down their baskets, the two of them went to register and pay with the chief’s wife.

After making payment, the charcoal was packed. The two of them carried the baskets on their backs and walked home.

On the way back, they bumped into some villagers who were making their way there. When those people saw that someone had picked up the charcoal, they became very anxious.

Xiaoguo and Mrs. Yang looked at each other with joy in their eyes. Fortunately, they had Brother Yang’s help. Otherwise, they would have to follow the majority and fight for the charcoal. It was great that they could go first and collect whole pieces of charcoal.

Although the size and weight of the whole piece was the same as the broken pieces, it still felt different. Moreover, Xiaoguo felt that the more intact the charcoal was, the longer time it would take to burn. It could be just a psychological effect or it could be due to some unknown reasons.

Mrs. Yang brought the charcoal home before bringing her sewing basket to Xiaoguo’s house to chat.

Not long after Mrs. Yang entered the room, she couldn’t help but put down her needle and thread. She took off her thick coat and pointed to the unique stove beside her. “Hey, this is really good. My face feels so hot when I enter the room. I’m feeling so warm after sitting here for a short while.”

Xiaoguo smiled and put down the needle and thread. Coincidentally, the water on the stove was boiling. She walked over and picked it up. She hooked up the lid with an iron hook and covered the kettle. Then, she placed it by the side of the stove again. She could just pour the water out when she needed some.

“There’s no time this year. You can make a set for next year.” Xiaoguo picked up the needle and thread again and said to Mrs. Yang, who was still studying the stove.

“That’s good!” Mrs. Yang looked at Xiaoguo again and said in amazement, “I don’t know where your brilliant ideas come from for you to think of such a thing.”

Mrs. Yang said enviously. She felt that Xiaoguo was really smart. When she went to the county metal shop with Xiaoguo the other day, she didn’t quite believe that such a thing was useful. Now that she was looking at it, she really regretted not ordering the same set back then.

“If you like, you can come over every day and stay with me. As long as Brother Yang agrees.” Xiaoguo blinked at her and teased her.

“You’re making fun of me now.”

“Hahahaha.” Seeing how shy she was, Xiaoguo was amused. Mrs. Yang and Brother Yang were really close. Once she mentioned Brother Yang, Mrs. Yang just couldn’t stop blushing.

“Go away. I’m not talking to you anymore. I’d better continue studying the stove.”

When Mrs. Yang heard this, she covered her face and sat closer to the unique stove.

“Don’t burn yourself.”

Xiaoguo looked at Mrs. Yang, who was really scrutinizing the stove. She couldn’t help but laugh.

This stove was the same stove with a chimney that her grandmother used to have. The reason for the high temperature in the house was because the stove had been designed with a chimney. In addition, the house was sealed off entirely. Although the stove was small, its temperature was very high. As it was burning all day, the temperature in the house was always warm.

On the day Xiaoguo left the county to stock up on food, Mrs. Yang also had to buy some things. Hence, she brought Mrs. Yang along with her to the metal shop and collected the stove, chimney, and kettle that she had ordered earlier. There were a total of three sets in total. One for each of the two bedrooms and one for the kitchen.

This way, she wouldn’t feel cold while cooking and they could have their meals in the kitchen as well. This was a perfect arrangement as they could eat right after cooking. While the kitchen was still warm, they could wash the dishes then go straight to bed

Before winter, Xiaoguo had made a lot of preparations. At first, when she thought of hanging cotton curtains on all the doors and windows, she thought of the stove.

If the house was sealed off, a bare stove would not be suitable. It would definitely cause carbon monoxide poisoning, so she thought of the stove at her grandmother’s house.

The structure of the small stove was simple. Xiaoguo drew it on paper based on her memory, and took it to the metal shop when the weather still wasn’t too cold. The stove was completed when the weather became very cold. Although it was a little expensive, with the warmth in the room and looking at Mrs. Yang’s envious expression, she felt that it was a worthwhile investment.

The next morning, Xiaoguo had nothing to do, so she tidied up the house with Zhuang Zhuang. She didn’t like to go out in recent days, and Zhuang Zhuang was also reluctant to go out. The two of them spent all day eating and sleeping. Before they turned into bums, Xiaoguo decided that they couldn’t go on like this. Hence, she set a goal of completing ten tasks a day with Zhuang Zhuang.

Today was the first day. The two of them put down the broom and dustpan at the same time. Without saying a word, they both took out the paper and drew a check mark on the first square.

Each square represented a task. Xiaoguo had drawn out a grid with squares of equal size. Every time they completed something, a check mark would be made in one of the squares.

There was only one pitiful little tick on the entire piece of paper. Xiaoguo told herself that everything was difficult at the beginning. Now that they had started with success, the rest of the work would get easier.

Her dreams were great, but reality was harsh.